"Sarah, I still don't know about this. I feel ridiculous and they will surely hate me. Perhaps we should just go home…"
"Jareth, stop," Sarah interrupted before he could continue rattling. "Everything will be fine. We're already here, we can't just leave now."
The two stood outside Sarah's car in front of her parents' home, she on the driver side and Jareth on the passenger side. They'd just pulled up and had begun taking the pies and wine out of the car when Jareth once again felt the need to assert his feelings. The whole car ride to the house he had been apprehensive and complaining, though Sarah just assumed it was because he was scared about being in the car as per usual. She wasn't sure why he was so nervous; she was the one who should have been!
"Besides…I thought you were excited about this," she then muttered.
Jareth folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I was when I had a gift to bear. Now that I am without one, I mostly feel like your bosom companion."
"Are you seriously still upset about the damn turkey?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip. "We went over this. It. Was. Too. BIG."
Jareth scoffed and opened the backseat of the car to retrieve the pies. "You don't complain about too big while we're fornicating…" he mumbled to himself.
"I heard that," she quipped back, grabbing the bottles of wine from the backseat.
They walked towards the front of the house together, and Sarah could just feel Jareth's nerves emanating from him. She felt a little bad that he was seemingly so edgy about tonight all of a sudden. Maybe she should have just let him bring the stupid turkey; now she was even more nervous that he was nervous.
Before knocking when they approached the large wooden doors, she gave him an encouraging smile and kissed him. "Don't worry – we'll have a nice time and they'll love you," she swore when the kiss ended. That's when she realized she didn't know why it mattered whether or not her parents approved; she and Jareth still were not official in any capacity, once again making her question as to why he was even here tonight. Damn Lindsie.
He returned her promise with a small smile and exhaled loudly. She too, let out a heap of air, and knocked on the door, indicating they were ready to face her family. She heard the patter of feet running towards the door, which meant only one thing…
"SARAH!" the small boy yelled when he opened the door to greet them.
"Hey, you!" she said back, kneeling to give Toby a big hug. "Gosh you're getting so big!" she added, shaking him in the embrace.
Toby pulled away and laughed. "Well I am eleven, you know."
"I hadn't forgotten," Sarah said. "Toby, there's someone I'd like you to meet." She stood up and grabbed Jareth's hand lightly, bringing him forward a bit.
Jareth forcefully grinned, unsure of how to approach the young lad. He hadn't seen him since he was but a babe, and he had to admit, he was mildly uncomfortable being around him now given the circumstances; he'd feel much better in his menacing Goblin King regalia. It always gave him such confidence. He stared at the blonde haired and blue eyed child and couldn't believe how much he'd grown. He rather liked Tobias as an infant.
"Who are you?" Toby then asked disdainfully, looking Jareth up and down.
Forget the infant comment, Jareth thought.
"Toby, this is Jareth," Sarah answered. "He's my…." She looked to Jareth, not quite sure what to label him as without insulting him. Was he just a friend? A close friend who gave her multiple orgasms a night? Or was he more than that? She didn't know, and she hoped tonight would answer that question without it feeling forced. Boyfriend was certainly out of the picture, at least for now.
"Paramour. I'm Sarah's paramour," Jareth said casually, putting the pies down on the ground and then extended his hand to Toby.
Toby's eyebrows raised. "What the heck is a para-more?" he questioned, making no move to shake Jareth's hand back.
"He means friend," Sarah retorted, giving Jareth a look that suggested he was an idiot for using that word to describe them. She turned to look back at Toby. "A friend of…paramount importance. That's what paramour means."
Toby scowled, but finally, albeit hesitantly, shook Jareth's slowly hand at the explanation. "Are you a teacher of Sarah's or somethin?" he asked.
Jareth tilted his head, confused by what the young boy meant. "Uh, no. No, I am not. Why would you think that?"
"Well, teachers are usually old and talk in that weird accent," Toby reasoned, letting his hand fall. "At least in the movies. Maybe Sarah is trying to suck up to her law teachers and call them her friend, I don't know."
"Oh, Jesus," Sarah mumbled to herself. She looked to Jareth and gave him an apologetic smile, then turned back to her brother. "Toby – Jareth isn't my professor, okay? He's a writer. We met at a book signing."
"And I'm not old, nor have a weird accent," Jareth felt the need to add.
"Toby?" a sudden male voice questioned from the interior of the house. "Are you outside? Is Sarah here?"
The three of them looked up to see Sarah's father walking towards them, a huge smile taking over his face when he saw his daughter.
"There's my girl!" he exclaimed, taking Sarah into his arms.
"Hi, daddy," she replied in a muffled tone, the hug crushing her. "How ya doing?"
Her dad broke away to answer, happiness radiating from him. "Good, we're all good. We've missed you though!"
"I know, I've missed you guys too."
Before he could respond, he looked over Sarah's shoulder and noticed Jareth standing awkwardly behind his daughter and furrowed his eyebrows. "Uh, hello. Hi. Who…who are you?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Oh, shoot, I'm sorry," Sarah said. She stepped away from her father to stand next to Jareth and held his bicep as a means to comfort him. "Dad, this is Jareth. Jareth, this is my dad, Robert."
Jareth held out his hand – once again – to Sarah's family member, hoping he'd react nicer than her brother had. "Pleasure, sir. Thank you so much for opening your home up to me."
Robert had a wary expression upon his face, but out of politeness shook Jareth's hand back. "Uh huh," he answered back. He studied Jareth a bit, trying to size him up. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize Sarah was bringing a friend."
The way he said 'friend' did not go unnoticed by Jareth. He snarled to himself at the tonality; Sarah's father was clearly trying to disregard their relationship to nothing more than mere…acquaintances. Though, if he were being honest he supposed the politically correct term to brand them as for now was friends. If only he knew.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Sarah chimed in. "It was sort of last minute. Jareth is a friend from my old writing group and he didn't have anywhere to go tonight. And, well. You can't be alone on Thanksgiving."
Robert nodded slowly, trying to assess the situation. "Right..." He looked back and forth between the two adults, but couldn't get a read on what was happening other than the fact that Sarah and Jareth were clearly more than simple friends. He wasn't an idiot. "Well, come on in, I suppose. The more the merrier, isn't that the saying?"
He helped pick up the pies off the ground and guided everyone in the house. The smell of fresh food and turkey lingered in the air, making Sarah's mouth water. She'd been so anxious she hadn't realized how hungry she was. Toby dashed off towards the kitchen area, presumably to tell her step mom about Sarah's friend.
"Where's Karen?" she asked her dad, taking off her coat as Jareth did the same.
"She's in the kitchen," Robert answered, taking the articles of clothing. "I'll go put your coats away and take these pies to the dining room. Why don't you and your friend go say hi to her?"
Jareth held in a growl, growing mildly irritated that Robert kept making it a point to refer to him as friend. Didn't he know what Jareth was capable of!
"Come on," Sarah said, grabbing his forearm and leading him away.
"Your father is displeased with my attendance," Jareth told her in a hushed tone. "I knew you should have forewarned him."
Sarah sighed. "He'll come around. You know how parents are – always trying to ramp up their intimidation game, especially fathers. Karen will be sweet as pie."
"Hmph," mumbled Jareth. "Pie beg to differ."
Sarah only laughed and then heard the loud squeal of a woman's voice the moment they entered the kitchen area.
"There she is!" Karen screamed, rushing towards her step daughter, donned in cooking gloves and an apron.
The two hugged, and Jareth again stood uncomfortably nearby, watching the women embrace. He enjoyed seeing Sarah this happy because of her family; clearly she had grown quite close with them over the years, maturing from a vexed teenager to a very involved daughter. Across the way, Toby was sitting on a stool, sipping on a Coke Cola and eyeing Jareth suspiciously.
"And who might this handsome man be?" Kareth next asked, turning to Jareth and distracting him from the sight of Sarah's brother.
He was suddenly looking into the blue eyes of an attractive red headed woman who really did look as sweet as pie. Unlike Sarah's father, Karen's tone was pleasant. "Hello, how do you do? I'm Jareth," he said.
Karen grinned and eyed Sarah mischievously, then proceeded to take off the gloves and shake his hand. "And you're a brit? My, my, Sarah sure hit the lottery with you." She looked to Sarah and winked. "I didn't realize you were seeing anyone, hun."
Sarah turned beat red and cleared her throat. "Well, actually, Jareth and I are just friends. I was telling Toby that we met at a writing club."
"You're a writer?" Karen inquired, sincerely intrigued.
Jareth nodded, trying to stick with their story. "Yes, and a part time musician."
"How lovely," she responded. "Where do you perform?"
Shit. "Mistletoe," Jareth immediately spat out.
Karen looked taken aback, and shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry?"
Sarah groaned inwardly and stepped in before Jareth could say another word. "That's the name of his new song. It's called Mistletoe. Isn't that right Jareth?"
"Um, yes. Yes, Mistletoe. Wonderful little song I wrote," he responded. "About…mistletoes…"
Karen nodded once, pretending she understood. "Oh…very sweet. Is it…a Christmas song?"
"Yeah, it is," Sarah answered quickly. "And Jareth performs at coffee shops and restaurants. You know. Those kinds of places."
"Very nice," her step mother replied. She raised her eyebrows and clapped her hands. "Well, dinner is nearly ready. Jareth, would you like some wine?"
"I thought you'd never ask," he said.
Karen chuckled, while Sarah craned her neck and eyed him accusingly.
"What?" he whispered. "I'm parched, and she offered. It's about time someone extended a little attentiveness."
"You yelled out mistletoe! Already!" she negated, trying to keep her voice down while Karen got their drinks.
Jareth shrugged. "You told me to if a situation came up where I was unsure of the answer."
"Yeah, for emergency situations," she reiterated.
He crossed his arms. "It was. If I had said the Underground, she would have for sure looked at me as though I were a crazy fool."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "That at least sounds like a club. Randomly throwing out 'mistletoe' is a little conspicuous, don't you think?"
"Need I remind you that you're the one who came up with the idea, not me."
"Fine," Sarah conceded. He was right after all.
Glasses of red wine were suddenly being handed to them. Both Jareth and Sarah said 'thank you' to Karen, who then mentioned she had to check on the food and that Sarah should show Jareth around the house.
The two walked out of the kitchen, and Sarah led them to the dining room showing Jareth where they'd be eating. However, when they arrived in the room, she couldn't help but notice extra place mat settings around the table and felt her forehead crease.
"Hey, are other people coming?" she asked out loud, hoping Karen or her father would hear her.
"Yes, we invited Carl and his family," Robert answered, entering the room with his own drink.
Jareth looked to Sarah to see what her reaction would be, for good old Robert sounded almost too cheery about the notion, Jareth noticed.
Sarah's heart sank and she felt her hands grow clammy at her father's admission. "Like…the whole family? Alyssa and Keith included?"
Robert nodded, a large smile forming on his face. He took a sip of his bourbon and exhaled, clearly enjoying this moment. "Yep. Keith will be here."
He turned to Jareth and nonchalantly added, "He's Sarah's ex-boyfriend."
AN: I know it's shorter. But I'll probably add another chapter tomorrow and then finish by Wednesday :) And I don't know about you guys, but I have two dads (step dad and biological father) and my step dad is a hard ass when it comes to boys. Anytime I brought guys over he'd immediately go into jerk mode while my biological dad is shy and just wants to get along with everyone. My step mom is so much like Karen. My mom however...she's a crazy ball buster. Hence why my boyfriend and I will be spending Thanksgiving with my dad and step mom this year XD.